New Cheetahs at Woodland Park Zoo

I’ve always dreamed of going on a safari in Africa and seeing elephants, lions, and giraffes in the wild. Unfortunately, I don’t have a trip like that in my immediate future. That means I turn to Woodland Park Zoo to enjoy these incredible creatures, and they just added two new animals to the mix — cheetahs!

Woodland Park Zoo (601 N. 59th St. in Seattle) is now a temporary home to two female cheetahs named Missy and Liz. They’ve come to Seattle as part of the Species Survival Plan, which is a conservation breeding program among zoos (according to Woodland Park Zoo). Missy and Liz are both 14 years old, so they’ve passed their breeding “prime” (although the two of them reared 15 cubs in the past). To make room for other younger cheetahs to breed at their permanent home in Oregon, the older cheetahs were moved here.

NOTE: The cheetahs are only expected to be at Woodland Park Zoo for 6 to 18 months. The temporary exhibit opened to the public on May 1st, so get out and see them while you can.

Since I’m a member of Woodland Park Zoo, I’ve seen the cheetahs a couple different times already. The first time I saw them, they were just lounging around the back of the exhibit and they were tough to see. But the second time I saw them, Missy actually got up and walked around. It was the first time I’d ever seen a cheetah in action. They are really, really amazing animals.

Take a look for yourself! Here are a few pictures I snapped of the new cheetahs at Woodland Park Zoo:

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Have you seen the new cheetahs at Woodland Park Zoo? What do you think of them? We’d love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Don’t forget to check out Seattle Bloggers for more great experiences in the Emerald City!